In many oral care appliances, including specifically power appliances using pressurized gas and liquid, several individual, separate functions must be controlled and sequenced for proper operation of the appliance. Typically, this requires the use of a plurality of individual switches and/or other actuators in a particular sequence. Significant operational capability is achieved with such a system, but at additional expense and complexity. It would thus be desirable to have a single switch assembly which can control a plurality of individual functions in a correct sequence so as to reduce cost as well as improving the reliability.